Y’all know me. I’m constantly scheming up new, fun things to start on my YouTube channel or on Twitter to encourage community and discussion! Usually, these initiatives are centered on the idea of LEARNING, and more often than not, these ideas are meant to spark bookish conversations.

I recently learned about #AuthorTube, a new community forming within the #BookTube community. How cool is that?! So many booktubers I’ve come to know and love want to be authors, and so this seems like a natural progression. On AuthorTube, you can find anything from writing vlogs and monthly goals/updates to advice on how to crush your writing dreams and improve storytelling techniques (plot/characterization/POV, et cetera).

As an editor, I’ve loved getting to know people in the publishing world through my Editor Talk videos, especially the independent authors, many of whom I’ve begun working alongside. Lately, I’ve been taking on more critique/developmental editing projects than I have in the past, and it’s pushed me to think creatively about the art of storytelling and all the different techniques authors have to master to ultimately create a story readers can connect to and love.

I’m constantly humbled by how much I continue to learn from fellow editors and authors! I started taking more classes and reviewing old resources that have sparked new and helpful conversations with authors, and I’m addicted to how this knowledge is serving and inspiring authors to tell their best stories.

SO! I’ve decided it’s time to create tangible goals toward continued education. Because I’m an editor and I don’t feel the pull to become an author at this point in time, I’ve often gravitated toward editing books rather than writing books. But writing books have just as many—if not more—resources for my clients! And since I’ve made it my goal to help authors with their manuscripts or their WIPs, I’ve decided to read one book on writing a month to review and discuss on my YouTube channel. This new book club is called Writerly Reads! I probably won’t be choosing editing-specific books, since I read a lot of those anyway and I’m assuming mostly writers will be joining in, but I think writing-specific books will be just as valuable for editors and aspiring editors. I won’t stop creating editor-specific videos or reading about editor-specific topics, but we can’t help authors excel in their craft if we don’t learn the craft ourselves—regardless of whether we, as editors, plan to write books ourselves! I would love for you to join me. We can have #WriterlyReads discussions in many ways: through my YouTube channel, through yours (if you have one and want to review books with me), and through Twitter and Instagram chats by using #WriterlyReads.

HOW THIS WILL WORK:
1.) I’ll announce the book at the beginning of every month, hopefully early enough so participants can check out the book at the library or find it/order it online.

2.) We’ll read the book and update/encourage one another through the #WriterlyReads hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.

3.) I’ll review the book either in a wrap-up or separate book review video.

4.) In my review video at the end of the month, I will include a date and time for a brief Twitter discussion. No worries if you can’t make it; these will be casual and you can always go back to read them later or respond earlier/later with your thoughts!

5.) I’ll also include the next book we will read in my review video.

6.) If you make your own review video/blog post/picture/whatever, include it in the comments section of my video so I can check it out! I’d love to know what you’re learning as well. Let’s make this a dialogue.

Are you in?! If you are, let me know on Twitter or Instagram using #WriterlyReads. I’m so excited to create this little space for us to continue to learn and grow as writers and editors! Stay tuned for what book we’ll be reading together in August!

It’s been a while! I promise I haven’t completely fallen off the map; I’ve been making videos and reading and such, but I have to admit, I haven’t had the itch to write in quite a while. Today, however, I’m inspired by the Twittersphere because it happens to be twenty years since J. K. Rowling first publishing the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the Harry Potter series. #HarryPotter20 has been trending all morning, and I have to say, I’ve been a bit weepy thinking about the world’s love for this particular Wizarding World.

Call it sentimental silliness (even though I just read the books for the first time as an adult), or call it inspiration, but I’ve decided to reread the books (again) with Pottermore’s new book club, the Wizarding World Book Club (@wwbookclub on Twitter). Weekly discussions exist on Twitter—which, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think they center on different themes and further CHAPTER chats—as well as published articles delving into the different topics and character studies. All this to say, I’m extremely excited to continue to learn from this lovely series, especially alongside true Potterheads.

Reading about the boy who lived for the first time—as an adult—was one of the most magical experiences of my life. J. K. Rowling taught me that my childhood could live also, and while I grieve the fact that my eleven-year-old self didn’t adventure with Hermione and the gang, I like to think I found her in these pages: a wildly hopeful kid with Hogwarts-sized dreams and a ravenpuff heart. Happy twentieth birthday. Here’s to you, Wizarding World, for shining a light in the dark. I like to think this good-over-evil story is just a taste of what’s to come. xx